"2000 Light Years from Home" is a song by the English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, released on their 1967 album ''

Their Satanic Majesties Request ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and by London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album rel ...

''. Written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, it also appeared as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the American single " She's a Rainbow", and charted as a single in Germany. Jagger reportedly wrote the lyrics in

Brixton prison HM Prison Brixton is a Category C training establishment men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner- South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Before 2012, it was used as a loca ...

following his conviction on drug charges in June 1967. The song was recorded by the band at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

during July and September 1967. The working title of the instrumental backing was "Toffee Apple".

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

performs prominent accompaniment on

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

. The number was regularly featured during the Stones' 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tours. Until 1997, when "She's a Rainbow" was also added to the band's stage repertoire, it was the only track from ''Satanic Majesties'' that the band had performed in concert. For the first time in 23 years, The Rolling Stones played "2000 Light Years from Home" on 29 June 2013 at The Glastonbury Festival.

Live version

In 1991, a live version was released as the B-side to " Highwire."

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, except where noted: *

vocals,

maraca A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

s *

backing vocals, lead guitar, fuzz bass *

, electric dulcimer *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

bass,

oscillator Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

drums Additional personnel *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

piano * Unidentified musicians female backing vocals, plucked piano strings,

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony ...

Charts

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{authority control British psychedelic rock songs The Rolling Stones songs Decca Records singles London Records singles 1967 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards 1968 singles Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Space rock songs Monster Magnet songs Songs about spaceflight